Mungo Park
New Member
Well I am a lurker over here but wanted to put this question out their.
I have searched 5160 to try and get a "feel" for it, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
I have a home built forge and have been forging 01 rods and quenching/HT by eye with some modicum of satisfaction, holding at critical for a few min is always a hit and miss doing it by eye and magnet.
I want to make some wood working tools, i.e. some hand plane blades, and looking at trying some 1/4" thick 5160.
any opinions about using this steel.
What I have read so far is the steel is "tough" but does not hold a edge all that well, would not "tough" mean holding a edge.
Also forging the steel and the heating and cooling adds something to the final product, if I normalize the steel 4 or 5 times to mimic this would it do the trick.
The more I read about this the more conflicting info, so help me separate the hebie jebie from the real what I gots to do here.
Cheers Ron.
I have searched 5160 to try and get a "feel" for it, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
I have a home built forge and have been forging 01 rods and quenching/HT by eye with some modicum of satisfaction, holding at critical for a few min is always a hit and miss doing it by eye and magnet.
I want to make some wood working tools, i.e. some hand plane blades, and looking at trying some 1/4" thick 5160.
any opinions about using this steel.
What I have read so far is the steel is "tough" but does not hold a edge all that well, would not "tough" mean holding a edge.
Also forging the steel and the heating and cooling adds something to the final product, if I normalize the steel 4 or 5 times to mimic this would it do the trick.
The more I read about this the more conflicting info, so help me separate the hebie jebie from the real what I gots to do here.
Cheers Ron.